Vented Beekeeping Suit in Yellow Cotton With Sting-Proof Protection

Free UK delivery on orders over £10. Order by 3pm Monday to Friday and we dispatch the same day. Not happy with your order? You have 30 days from delivery to send it back.

Shipping

• Orders placed by 3pm Monday to Friday are dispatched the same day.
• Delivery times are estimates and can vary with the courier and your area.
• We send tracking details once your order is on its way, where available.
• If your parcel is late, arrives damaged or is missing items, contact us as soon as possible and we will sort it out.

30-day returns

You can return most items within 30 days of the day your order arrives, for a refund. That is longer than the 14 days UK law gives you for online orders.

To request a return or cancellation, please contact us with your order number before you send the item back, and let us know that you would like to cancel or return the order.

Condition of returned items

You can handle and try on items as you would in a shop. Please look after them and send them back in a condition we can resell where reasonably possible.

If an item has been used more than needed to check its size, look, features or how it works, we may reduce the refund where UK law allows.

For safety and hygiene, please do not wear gloves, bee suits or other protective clothing for real work, or expose them to dirt or chemicals, if you might want to return them.

Refunds

• We refund the price you paid for the goods.
• We refund our standard delivery charge. If you chose a more expensive delivery option, we refund the standard delivery cost only.
• Refunds go back to your original payment method.

Wrong size or changed your mind

If you ordered the wrong size, colour or style, or simply changed your mind, you can return it within the 30 days. The cost of sending a change-of-mind return back to us is normally yours, unless we have agreed otherwise.

Faulty, damaged or wrong items

If something arrives faulty, damaged, not as described or not what you ordered, contact us with your order number and a photo of the problem. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 you may be entitled to a repair, replacement, price reduction or refund, and we will deal with it under your legal rights.

Items we cannot take back

Some items, such as personalised or made-to-order products, may not be returnable once we have started making them, where UK law allows. If this applies to an item, we will tell you before you order. This does not affect your rights if an item is faulty.

How to return an item

Contact us first and tell us:

• Your order number
• Your name
• The item you want to return
• The reason, if you would like to share it

We will send you return instructions and the return address. Please only send returns to the address our customer care team gives you. We recommend a tracked service, and keep your proof of postage.

Your legal rights

Nothing in this policy limits your rights as a UK consumer, including your rights on the quality and description of goods and your right to cancel an online order. If there is a problem with your order, contact us and we will work to put it right fairly.

Contact us

Call 0161 399 4784 or email customercare@saftabee.co.uk.

Two minutes after a hive inspection. Twenty minutes at the end of the season. That's the bargain.

In short.

Brush off propolis and pollen before it sets. Wash cool, dry slow, and never tumble what was woven to breathe. Leather wants oil, not water. Mesh wants air, not heat. Veils want a hook, not a hanger.

The keeper who minds the kit minds the bees better.

Ventilated three-layer suits and jackets.

The mesh is the protection - protect the mesh. After each inspection, brush the suit down with a soft bristle brush to lift propolis, wax flecks, and pollen before they fuse to the fibre. Stings left in the cloth should be plucked out the same day.

Wash: machine, cold or thirty degrees, gentle cycle, mild non-bio detergent. No bleach. No fabric softener. Zip the veil closed, fasten all velcro, turn inside out.

Dry: air dry, flat or on a wide hanger, out of direct sun. Never tumble dry - heat collapses the spacer fabric and the loft will not return.

Cotton suits and jackets.

Cotton forgives more than mesh. Brush off debris, then machine wash at thirty to forty degrees, non-bio detergent. White cotton tolerates colour-safe oxygen brightener once or twice a season - chlorine bleach, never. Air dry where possible; tumble on low if you must.

Veils.

Treat the veil like optical equipment, not laundry. Hand wash only, lukewarm water, drop of mild soap. Press, do not wring. Air dry over a wide hook or upturned bowl so the crown holds shape. Never fold a stiffened veil flat - the crease will not come out.

Detach fencing veils before washing the suit body. Hooded veils that don't detach age faster than the rest - that's the trade.

Leather bee gloves - cow, sheep, goat skin.

Leather is skin. Wipe down with a damp cloth after a heavy day. Once a month in season, condition with neatsfoot oil, mink oil, or saddle soap, worked in by hand and left overnight.

Do not machine wash leather gloves. Detergent strips the natural oils and the glove goes hard, brittle, and a size smaller. If truly filthy, hand wash quickly with cool water and saddle soap, reshape, condition while still damp.

Goat skin is softest and dries fastest - condition more often. Cow leather is toughest. Sheep skin sits between.

Gardening, Kevlar, and thorn-resistant gloves.

Most gardening gloves with cotton or synthetic backs and leather palms can be machine washed cool, gentle cycle, mild detergent. Air dry only - tumble drying weakens Kevlar stitching over time. All-leather rigger gloves: follow the leather routine - wipe, condition, no soaking.

Welding gauntlets and heat-resistant gloves.

These do not get washed. Water and soap break down the heat-resistant treatments and the Kevlar lining. Brush off debris, wipe leather with a barely-damp cloth, condition lightly once a season. Store flat, out of sunlight - UV degrades both leather and Kevlar.

Heavy oil or grease stains on a welding gauntlet? Accept them. The leather is doing its job.

Storage between seasons.

Wash and fully dry everything before winter. Hang suits and jackets on wide hangers in a breathable cotton garment bag - never plastic. Store gloves loose in a drawer, not stacked. Veils on a hook, never folded under weight. A cedar block or dried lavender keeps moths off the cotton.

Kit put away well in October is kit ready in March.Stains, repairs, and what not to do.

Propolis.

Freeze the garment first - propolis goes brittle below zero and chips off with a fingernail. What remains, dab with surgical spirit on a cotton bud, working from outside the stain inward. Then wash as normal.

Honey and wax.

Honey rinses out warm before it dries. Once dry, soak ten minutes in warm water then wash. Wax: scrape off what you can, then iron the residue between two sheets of brown paper - the heat lifts it into the paper.

Sting venom and small holes.

Venom yellows white cotton and weakens fibre - wash the day of the sting where you can. A small hole in mesh is serious; it is a route for stings to reach skin. Send it to us - we patch mesh suits at cost in the first year, material cost thereafter. Do not repair mesh at home; needle holes become weak points.

Zips and velcro.

Brush wax and propolis from zip teeth with an old toothbrush, then run a graphite pencil along the closed zip - dry lubrication that doesn't attract dust. Velcro that has lost grip is usually full of fibre - pick it clean with a needle point or comb gently.

What not to do.

No bleach on coloured cotton or any mesh. No fabric softener on ventilated suits. No tumble drying anything three-layered. No machine washing leather. No drying on a radiator - direct heat shrinks cotton and warps mesh. No storing damp - mildew destroys a suit faster than a hot wash.

When to retire a piece.

Mesh: when daylight shows through panels that shouldn't, or cuffs lose grip. Cotton: when fabric thins enough a sting could pass doubled cloth. Leather gloves: when the palm goes shiny-smooth, seams open, or leather stays stiff despite conditioning. Veils: at the first crease that won't smooth, or the first hole however small.

Honest counsel.

Send a photo to customercare@saftabee.co.uk. We'd rather repair than replace, and rather replace than have you working a hive in failing kit.